Reflecting a Tarnished America

By MARY FRANCES BERRY

I first met the distinguished historian John Hope Franklin in
the 1960s when I was a graduate student at the University of
Michigan. Over the years I have benefited from his counsel and
friendship as I have made my way as a scholar and an activist. So I
eagerly read his new memoir, Mirror to America: The Autobiography
of John Hope Franklin, published this week by Farrar, Straus and
Giroux. As the title suggests, Franklin is writing not just about
his life, but about the enduring impact of